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On dean mail today!! We have succeeded dramatically in taking back the spirit and words of
the Democratic Party. With our support, Howard Dean has put a spine
back into a Democratic Party lying prostrate in the road, literally
run over by a Republican War machine.
We are not done Taking Back America.
The race for the first Great House of the American Constitution
appears to have moved into a stage beyond our control. We
ferverently hope that today's poll numbers for the Fall campaign for
this first Great House remain there to the end. As we know, however,
poll numbers in one season can easily disappear in another.
While the national media and the special interests have taken over
this race, this vast grass roots revolution in American politics is
not over.
There are four Great Houses of the American Constitution. We, this
grass roots movement of unparalleled dimension in the history of
American politics, must simply now shift our focus of attack to the
second Great House: the U.S. House.
The House of Representatives is the bastion, the unassailable
fortress of Republicanism in America.
George Bush did not cast the deciding votes at 4 AM to destroy the
future of Medicare. George Bush did not vote to pass budget deficits
reaching past a half trillion dollars. George Bush did not vote to
pass the Patriot Act. And George Bush did not vote to abdicate his
constitutional obligation to cast his soul into a declaration of war.
These were the acts of the other "Great" Houses of the American
Constitution.
This movement to take back America has been informed by the media and
the party establishment that it is now becoming an impediment to the
anointment of the original Prince-to-be. Yes, we will vote for this
Prince of our party. Better our Prince than their Fool.
But we must be realistic: we are not fools. Our man was in the cross
hairs for a year, and it took the unfair edit Scream to finally
deliver the dirt on Dean We are not deluded in our concerns about the
real electibilty of the anointed one. Three weeks in the media cross
hairs have already unearthed concerns. There is a reason why we are
still with Dean, not someone else.
No, if we are truly a campaign to Take Back America then we must now
turn our focus to the real bastion of Republicanism in America: the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Now, you ask, what exactly do I mean by this? Let me mention one case
proven already.
Leonard Boswell, Iowa Democrat running for the U.S. House. We
Deaniacs raised $50,000 for this campaign in two days because we
heard it would make a real difference. When the Democrats are voting
at 4 AM on whether or not to kill Medicare, we don't care WHAT state
that vote which made the difference in our favor came from. The fact
that it was a Democratic Vote of Democratic Intent is what is crucial.
Let me give another specific example.
There is a two-term Republican named Mark Kirk in the Illinois Tenth
Congressional District. This man was a Naval Intelligence analyst
during Iraqi Freedom, and this man is still convinced those WMD are
over there, and is a more hard-over rightwing Republican than George
Bush himself. Unfortunately, this man is also a handsome Naval
aviator in a rich Republican district that somehow thinks he's
an "environmentalist" and a "social liberal".
During the run up to the war, many people in Kirk's district were
very concerned about the planned hostilities, and many inquiries were
made to Kirk's office to request his position on the war and an
explanation of it. As a matter of fact, at a time when millions of
people around the world were marching in protest against the planned
assault on Iraq, there were several thousand in this very district
who marched many times and at many different places.
A leader arose from among these people: his name is Lee Goodman. His
decision to run against Mark Kirk came to his mind the day he and
over a hundred of his fellow voters went to Mark Kirk's office, after
having previously arranged the meeting with Kirk's office, and,
instead of meeting with the congressman, were locked out of his
office and then pushed away by policemen who suddenly appeared on the
scene.
Even now, peace activists across the country are now under
investigation as terrorists. The recent events at Drake University,
where records from the Catholic Peace Ministry were subpoenaed (see
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0207-07.htm), the plans for
bringing back the Draft, and the growing militarization of American
life only add further urgency the need to take our country back
before it is truly too late.
It is people like Lee Goodman and those who support him who are at
the heart of this new Democratic resurgence; this campaign to Take
Back America.
In our neighboring district, the Illinois Eighth District, there are
actually THREE Democrats running against that perennial nexus of
Republican power in the House, Phil Crane. To our north, in the
Wisconsin First District, another Kirk-like Republican appears to
hold his district in a complete thrall.
We must use our grass roots structures to organize regional events
whereby our man, Howard Dean, would fly in, set up camp at somebody's
house, and then bring lots of local media attention and name and face
recognition for our Democratic candidates for the House.
Howard has already written the standard unified Text for the
Democrats this year. He simply needs to take our message to new
venues where his buzz will transfer buzz to our local House
candidates. We, his grass roots supporters, can work with the local
House candidate to put everything together, and Howard simply shows
up, and voila, now our local candidate gets a front page story in the
local papers or local TV FOR FREE.
Working together across districts, on a region by region basis,
Howard could simply travel across the country, hitting multiple
districts in a single day or weekend, moving on, and then coming back
again in a few weeks to stoke the flames some more.
I know each of us wants to keep this dream alive. I believe this is a
way for us to re-channel our energy, talent, organization, and money
so that we will really move the revolution in American politics to a
whole new level. Our internet-based network and proven record of
setting fund raising records can combine with the authenticity and
integrity of a man like Howard Dean to make an impact of unimaginable
proportions at the very grass roots where this Constitution was meant
to begin.
Before Howard shuts down anything, I think we must all approach him
on this, and ask him to take up this new challenge on our behalf. I
am posting this message on all our Dean Yahoo sites, and the Dean
Blog, and I would ask each of you to consider this proposition
seriously, and then call Burlington and write to the Blog and do
whatever else you can to make your voice heard in the planning
sessions that will be starting very shortly.
As he keeps telling us: we have the power, and it's about us. We can
change the Democratic Party, and we can change America. We will never
give up on this mission: we want our country back. We are simply
opening up a second front on Republicanism. |
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